Squatter, at first I was going to consider myself corrected by your sensible post, but on second thought I tend to think that this has to do with the era in which Tolkien lived - as well as - real gender differences. Not that I am saying that ALL women are such and so, and ALL men are so and such. Rather, these are tendencies. Back to Tolkien's era and setting: it was one in which the men were the professors, smoking pipes, going for walks, drinking 'heathily', discussing 'interesting' things, while the women were at home cleaning up, talking about mundane every day things, making the home clean, orderly, and secure as they needed it. So I think the Ents versus the Entwives theme in LotR reflects more than just the Ents and the Entwives and certain tendencies in certain people.
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